1999 April 12 (Monday)
Plating preparation
Things to zinc plate
These are the smaller hardware items to be zinc plated. Most of the mounting hardware will be replaced with stainless steel. There was still plenty to clean up. What wasn’t bead blasted was hit with file and wire brush (on the Dremel tool).
1999 April 20 (Tuesday)
Plated parts
Zinc plated parts
The parts came back from the plater looking great. One of the hub nuts was smooth enough that it came back looking like it had been chrome plated, not zinc plated. The Brown side-stand at the top of the picture will not be mounted on the bike. It was eventually traded for something else.
Time for the first parts go back on the frame. The tank and fenders have not yet been painted as I waited for the powder coated parts to return so I could take the license plate bracket in with the tank and fenders for color matching. That will happen tomorrow. I was told today that it would be at least 8 weeks, perhaps longer, to get the parts back.
Center stand bumper
Bare frame
Center stand bumper
Ok, so the first thing I added was quite simple. See the difference between the first and second photo? Probably not. If you look real close you’ll see the black rubber center stand stopper. A guy’s got to start some place!
Center stand
Center stand and hardware
Pictured are the center stand, bushings, and mounting hardware. I used stainless steel hardware wherever I could. The newly plated springs looked great.
Center stand on frame
Center stand on frame
That was simple. Almost. Except for stretching the springs. There was a difference in length between coils and the mounting hooks on each end. My notes did not say which went where. Looking at earlier pictures didn’t help: it looks like each side was installed a different way. I reasoned that the longer arm should go toward the center stand to ensure coils don’t rub against the mounting bracket when the stand is up. That seemed to be OK.
If you look close you’ll see the rear swing arm pivots and cover nuts were also installed. The cover nuts are to protect the pivots and keep all related parts together. The pivots were installed to verify that the threads on the frame were completely free of powder. There was a touch of powder on the inside of one of the pivot mounts. Some scratching with an awl got rid of it. Both pivots now have full range of movement. There is a light covering of grease on the exposed parts to keep them in good shape.
Stored frame
Back in storage
I put the frame back in its storage position. I was still using jack stands, but now the rear stand supports the center stand.